The Rainy Days
by Ms. Blank
Summary: The Doctor and a young American woman travel space and time in search of fun and adventure but instead find the all the scary things that stalk the darkest corners of the universe and hide in the shadows of history.
1. The Eyes Part 1

Rain fell down on Laura's new house. It was tucked away in a nice, quiet suburb in a nice quiet Washington town. Her mother stuffed her hands with heavy boxes.  
"Mom, do we have to do this right now? Our stuff might get soaked." Laura said, quietly.  
"Yes, Franklin, we have to do this now. We have to return the truck in the morning or they'll charge us a fee." Her mother piled more boxes into her arms.  
"Oh. Okay." She started to head toward the house and then turned back around. "Um, mom, I've asked you not to call me Franklin". She tried to peak over the boxes of clothes and porcelain figurines to gage her mother's reaction.  
"Oh, well, you know it's hard to remember. A few slip ups are bound to happen. It's not that big of a deal, son."  
"But you never even try..."  
"Hurry up and get those inside."  
"Okay."  
Laura made her way to the house. She found empty space on the floor of the living room and set the heavy load down. "She never bothers. She remembers. I know she remembers, she just doesn't care."  
Across the street a neighbor flung open his door,umbrella in hand.  
"Hello there, neighbor!" He shouted as he crossed the street to meet Laura's mother. Laura steped out to the porch and watched them. "I'm Charles! Charles Getz!" He said, excitedly shaking Laura's mother's hand. Charles was a tall, stout man, with big bright eyes, and a wooly, thick beard.  
"Hello Charles. I'm Dianne. Diane Morrison. So nice to meet you." Laura's mother said, forcing a smile. "You're the first neighbor to come out and greet us."  
"Oh! Am I? Well. the people on this street aren't the most out going people. It's usually up to me to meet new folks." He chuckled with a booming laugh. He noticed Laura standing on the porch. "And who is this strapping, young lad?"  
"Oh. That's my son, Franklin." Dianne gestured for Laura to join them. Laura made her way down the walk way, the rain splashing down on her worn down men's jacket. "Franklin this is Charles Getz."  
Charles stuck out his giant hand. "Nice to meet you son!"  
"Nice to meet you, sir." Laura reached out her hand and Charles shook it firmly. It didn't hurt as much as she expected a handshake from him would.  
"The pleasure's all mine! What's a fine young man like you up to these days? Huh? Running around with girls? Getting into trouble, huh?" He lets out another boom of laugher.  
Laura laughs a little. "Not really. Mostly just , it was school. I'm on a bit of a break now."  
"Oh?"  
Dianne chimed in. "Yes! Franklin was at college, studying art."  
"An artist, eh?!"  
"Yes," Laura said with a slight smile. "I am."  
"Are you a painter?" Charles says with a warm grin.  
"Yes."  
"So, will I find some of your work in this truck."  
Laura laughed. "Yes."  
"I'll take 'em!"Charles exclaimed.  
"But you haven't seen them. They might suck."  
"I think art is worth a risk!" He chuckled. "Well, it was nice meeting you Franklin. Mrs. Morrison, it was lovely meeting you too." He waved to them both and started off across the street, when he stopped and turned back to Laura and her mother and shouted back "Oh! I forgot! There's a bit of a little neighborhood get together at my house tomorrow night at seven! Come on over and we can get you acquainted with the shyer members of our little street!"  
"We'd love to!" Dianne shouted back.  
"Good! See you then!" Shouted Charles as he turned back toward his house and headed in.  
Laura let out a sigh. "You introduced me as Franklin."  
"Did I? I'm sorry."  
"No you're not." Laura said under her breath.  
"Here take these inside." Dianne said, handing Laura a couple of paintings, wrapped up in bubble-wrap.  
"Okay." She made her way toward the house. "How hard is it to remember?..."

Later that night Laura laid on her mattress, listening to the rain hit her window and staring at her unassembled bed frame. She rolled over and reached into one of the dozen-plus boxes that littered her new room. She pulled out shirts and pants and tossed them onto the ground until she pulled out a light blue sundress. She laid it on herself and imagined wearing it. Wearing it out on some bright and sunny day in the park.  
Suddenly, a sound pulled her out of her dream. A sort of mechanical wheeze, coming from next door. Laura set the dress down on her mattress and moved to the window. She looked out at her neighbor's fence and saw a man trying to climb over it. He clumsily rocked his way over the top of the fence on his belly and toppled over and landed face first into the wet grass. The man jumped to his feet.  
Laura watched him jog into the dark of the night, his tweed jacket swaying with the wind.


	2. The Eyes Part 2

Laura slipped under the covers. The thought of the strange tweed man in her neighbor's garden filled her head. She couldn't tell her mother about it because she was certain her mother would think she was being silly. She didn't know anyone here and she figured freaking her neighbors out over something that she might've seen in the rain seemed like a poor introduction.  
Plus, she felt so sleepy. She had to sleep. She had to dream.  
It was all eyes. Warm and safe. Something called to Laura. A soft voice. She was held close. The eyes were sweet comfort. They showed her no pain. No hatred. The eyes were joy. The voice never stopped. It called to her.  
She reached her hand out to touch. To caress. She had to show how much she loved the eyes. They called out for love. She had to touch them. Be near them.  
Laura awoke with a start. Her body ached. She rolled over and grabbed her phone.  
"Four-thirty?...That's not possible. I slept for seventeen hours?...That can't be..."  
Laura stumbled to her feet and made her way to her living room to find her mother asleep on the couch, a box half unpacked on the floor and a porcelain rabbit in her hand. Laura leaned over her mother and tried to shake her awake, but her mother just kept sleeping.  
"Mom?" Laura, said, still shaking her. "Mom, wake up. Mom? Mom! MOM!"  
Laura was shaking her mother violently now, just trying to get her to react to something. She put her head to her mother's chest and she had a heartbeat and was breathing, but she wouldn't wake up. Laura collapsed to her mother's side. She had no idea what to do.  
Suddenly her mother sat up with quickly. She let out a deep breath.  
"Mom! You're awake!" Laura shouted, in relief.  
"Yeah...Uh...why am I out here? What time is it?"  
"It's like four thirty in the afternoon."  
"I was so tired...I don't know why...I had to sleep." Dianne said, staring off at nothing.  
"Me too. I only just woke up."  
"Well, get ready. We have to go to Mr. Getz soon." She said, staggering to her feet and walking to her room.  
"Right..."

A few hours later Laura and her mother headed across the rainy street to Charles Getz's house. He greeted them both with a big jolly "Hello! Dianne! Franklin! Welcome to my palatial estate!" He let out one of his booming laughs. "Come in! Come in! There's some chips and dip, drinks, oh and lots of cakes and stuff! Help yourself!"  
Charles took their coats and led them to the people gathered in the living room. They were all standing around and chatting.  
"Mom, I'm going to get something to eat." Laura squeezed her way through the crowded living room and found the plastic tables covered in sweets and chips.  
"Complementary cakes. I love complementary cakes." A voice said from over Laura's shoulder.  
"Yeah. It's nice." Laura turned around to face the source of the voice. "Wait! You're him. You're the tweed man!"  
"That's me!" He smiled, putting a powdered donut into his mouth. "Mmmmmm. Powdered donuts are so delicious. Messy, mind you. But, delicious."  
"What were you doing in my next door neighbor's garden?"  
"Oh! Nothing. Just getting my bearings, figuring out where I was and all that. Oh! They have chocolate cake!" He slides a thick piece of cake onto a plate and dives into it with a plastic fork.  
"You're new here, too?" Laura said, eyeballing the strange tweed man.  
"A bit. You're new here?" His mouth was coated in chocolate.  
"Yeah. I just got here yesterday."  
"Why'd you move here?" He said, his demeanor seemed to change. There was a focus that wasn't there before.  
"Uh..uh. My mom. She had to move here for work and I still live with her so I had to come too." Laura stammered.  
"I see-Oh! where are my manners? What's your name?" A smile splashed across his face.  
"...Laura" she said, waiting to see how he'd react.  
"Laura! Splendid name! My name is The Doctor." He reached out to shake her hand. "Now, Laura, have you noticed anything strange?"  
"Strange? I don't know. I slept longer than normal."  
"Really? Sleeping too much?  
"Yes."  
"Hmm..." The Doctor got real quiet as if lost in thought. "Well! Let's have a seat! It looks like they're going to start soon!" He gestured to Charles walking to the front of the room.  
"Get started?...I thought..." Laura said, sitting down next to The Doctor.  
"Folks! Now! Settle down! Settle down!" Charles waved for everyone to sit down in the folding chairs that filled the room. "Now today is a special meeting! Today we welcome two new residents! Dianne Morrison and her son Franklin!"  
The people gathered clapped heartily for them. Charles continued. "Now. as always we're so happy to have you all here. Without you, there'd be no happiness. No joy!" His tone grew more stern and cold. "No power...The Eyes live within us all!"  
The room cheered in unison: "THE EYES LIVE WITHIN US ALL!" To Laura's shock she found that she had cheered along with them.  
"The Eyes are love!"  
"THE EYES ARE LOVE!"  
"The Eyes are hope!"  
"THE EYES ARE HOPE!"  
"The Eyes...are our master!"  
"THE EYES ARE OUR MASTER!"  
Laura wheeled back in her chair in shock. She turned to The Doctor who stared down at her with a look of concern. "Laura, are you alright?"  
"Doctor, I don't know what I'm doing. I feel sick. I remember the eyes...I slept too much...Doctor..."  
"Laura!" The Doctor held Laura and watched her slip into near unconsciousness. All the while the chants grew louder:  
"THE EYES ARE LOVE! THE EYES ARE HOPE! THE EYES ARE OUR MASTER!"


	3. The Eyes Part 3

"Laura. I want you to listen to my voice. You're here. You're here with me. Do you hear me?" The Doctor said, gently holding Laura.  
"Yes." Laura was slipping further away from the Doctor.  
"Look at me. Laura can you open your eyes and look at me?"  
The Chanting grew to a seemingly ear shattering level.  
"Laura. Stay awake! Look at me!" The Doctor said, shaking Laura. But it was no good and Laura slipped into another deep sleep. "Damn..."  
The Doctor leap to his feet. "Alright everyone. Great cult meeting. The refreshments were wonderful, and the conversation was just lovely, but I think it's time we called it a night."  
An eerie silence filled the room as all eyes were turned to The Doctor.  
"Unless you'd rather play charades or something..."  
"Who are you?" Getz said, with a quiet focus.  
" I'm The Doctor. I'm new here. Is the creepy chanting a usual Thursday night event? I didn't get the memo." The Doctor slowly made his way toward Getz.  
"Why are you here?"  
"Oh, what a question Getz. Why are any of us here? Let me ask you. Why are you here? You don't belong on this planet. "  
"What do you mean, Doctor?"  
"You know what I mean. You're not human."  
"I don't have time for this foolishness. Sleep!"  
Suddenly all of the people in the room made fell to the ground and into a deep sleep. But The Doctor stayed standing.  
"Why aren't you asleep?!" Getz growled.  
"Well, I'm not human either." The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and let out burst of high pitched sound. Getz dropped to his knees, holding his ears.  
The Doctor picked up Laura and carried her out of house.

The eyes held Laura. They held her close. She saw love in their shine. They were warm. They were her master. She was theirs. She reached out her hand to touch them. To touch power.

Laura awoke with a start. Cold silver surrounded her, she sat up and saw The Doctor at the console fiddling with something.  
"Where are we?"  
"Oh good! You're awake!" The Doctor said, still working away at his machine. "We're inside my ship."  
"Your ship? Like a space ship?"  
"Well, a time and space ship, yes."  
"Okay..." Laura was too phased and disoriented to ask any of the thousands of questions that answer raised. "What are you doing?"  
"Ah! Well, you see, I'm building something to combat the control the creature has on the people here."  
"Creature? You mean the eyes?"  
"Yes. Well that's what it shows you in your dreams, what it really looks like is hard to say. In fact it's impossible."  
"What do you mean"  
"There are things in the universe that are so unknowable, so indescribable, so...powerful, that they exist beyond understanding."  
"And that's in my neighbor's house?"  
"Oh no! It's probably lounging in some cracks in between universes, but its turned its attention toward this planet." The Doctor said soldering wires together.  
"Why?"  
"For food."  
"Food?!" Laura said, fear filling her chest.  
"Yes. It feeds on dream energy. The more people dreaming at once the bigger the meal."  
"That's why I slept so much...is this happening everywhere?"  
"No. It's located here. It's hold isn't strong enough. Getz is its connection to this planet, a servant and prophet. Getz is the key. He needed to be here so the creature had a point of focus, but soon its focus will grow strong enough to feed on the whole world."  
"How can something like that exist?"  
"You can't even imagine the things that can exist, Laura. Besides this thing isn't nearly as bad as its parents." He picked up his gadget and shot Laura a rye smile and held out his hand. "Shall we?"


	4. The Eyes Part 4

The door to the blue box flung open. Laura and The Doctor ran out into a dark and rain soaked garden. Laura looked back at the impossibly small box that seemed to hold a whole world inside.  
"Uh...Doctor...did we just walk out of a box?..."  
"Yes."  
"It's...small..."  
"Yes. Yes. I know. You can be amazed and impressed by me later."  
"Okay..."  
The Doctor stopped and turned to Laura. "Now, Laura, listen to me. This is going to be very dangerous. I need to be close enough to Getz to use my device, which is very, very close, that means I need you to distract him by going back in and pretending you're still apart of his cult. Can you do that?"  
"Yeah. I think so...as long as everyone is safe. My mom, I need to know she'll be safe. I'll do what I have to." Laura said, with conviction in her voice.  
"Good girl." The Doctor said, a smile draping his face.  
Laura grinned from ear to ear. Even in boy clothes, someone acknowledged that she was a girl.  
"Now," The Doctor said. "I'm going to go around the back of Getz's house and try and sneak in and get him by surprise. All it takes is a push of a button and the signal should be gone and we will have saved the Earth." The Doctor turned toward the edge of the garden. "There's a gate?! Why did I jump over the fence the last time? I wish I'd known there was a bloody gate..."

Laura took a deep breath as she knocked on Getz's door. The powerful man opened the door with a stoic and serious expression. "You have returned?"  
"Yes."  
"What about The Doctor?"  
"I don't know. I awoke alone. I love The Eyes so much. I just want to worship."  
"Very well. The others are still asleep. You can join them." Getz, said, leading Laura back into the living room filled with the sleeping members of the street. "Your love for The Eyes is strong?"  
"Yes. I love The Eyes."  
Getz stared intensely at Laura. "I'm sure you do. The Eyes are love"  
"The Eyes are love." Laura repeated, watching The Doctor slowly open a sliding glass door behind Getz.  
"The Eyes are hope."  
The Doctor crept through the door.  
"The Eyes are hope."  
"The Eyes are our master."  
The Doctor slowly made his way across the room, his finger ready to push the button.  
"The Eyes are our master." Laura began to to lose focus and world felt far away.  
"SLEEP!" Getz shouted as Laura fell to the floor, asleep. At that same moment the others in the room sprung to life and grabbed The Doctor and held him. Getz quickly turned to face The Doctor. "You're a fool, Doctor. Do you think I'm stupid enough to fall for that?"  
"I had hoped..." The Doctor said, with a smirk.  
"Sorry to disappoint, Doctor. Take the device from him." The gizmo was wretched from The Doctor's hands and given to Getz. "A mental signal link disrupter? Clever."  
"Well, I'm a tinker."  
Getz slowly paced the room. "Doctor, what is your reason for being here?" he said, placing the disrupter on a table. "Why is a non Earth being interfering with my affairs?"  
"I'm very prone to interfering. It's a habit I've been trying to kick, but you know, a dream eating monster from the shadows of the universe holds a street full of people hostage and I can't help but fall off the wagon. I don't understand something, Getz."  
"What's that, Doctor?"  
"I mean, I understand the feeding on dreams, thousands of species feed on mental energy, and I understand filling them with a sensation of love to make sure they don't fight back during feeding time, but why make them worship?"  
"Oh, come now, what is the point of love if there is no worship?" A smirk spread across Getz's face. "Tell me, what are you, Doctor?"  
"Time Lord." The Doctor's stare turned cold.  
"Ah, a Time Lord. It's unusual for your kind to be so insistent in meddling. Perhaps your coming here is fortunate after all." Getz slowly made his way to The Doctor and placed his hands onto the The Doctor's head. "The dreams of a Time Lord will make my master ever so happy. Unfortunately, your sleep won't be a pleasant one..."  
The Screams of The Doctor echoed through the dark and empty night.


	5. The Eyes Part 5

The Eyes held Laura close. A wave of warmth washed over her. She stared up and felt joy. The Eyes whispered to her. The sound was soft and comforting. She could feel her body. It felt like it was fading away. The world was fading away. Nothing in the universe existed but her and The Eyes. Ecstasy filled her.  
She started to feel swallowed by The Eyes. A warm, soft womb of eyes. They called her name. They whispered their love for her into her ears. She was home in The Eyes. She was lost in the Eyes.  
But something in the back of her mind told her this all was wrong.  
"Fight." Laura let out. "Fight."  
The Eyes drew her in more, showing her visions of pure bliss and contentment.  
"Fight." Laura's voice more certain.  
The whispers grew louder, beaconing Laura to crawl inside The Eyes.  
"No. I can't. I belong outside."  
Laura's body was flooded with the strongest feeling of pure pleasure she had ever known. The Eyes whispered to her to stay with them.  
"No. I-I-have to leave."  
"Stay." The whispers filled Laura's head.  
"I- can't. I need to be outside."  
"Stay."  
The hold of The Eyes on Laura's body grew tighter. She could feel an ache inside of her.  
"Let me go." Laura could feel something dig into her arms.  
"You will not leave." The whispers have become growls.  
"You-you can not keep me here!" A pain rushed through Laura's spine. A scream escaped her lips.  
"You will not leave."  
"Yes I will!" Laura was shaking with agony.  
"You will stay with us."  
"Let. Me. G-go!" It was pain that Laura had never known.  
"You will live here. You will feed us. You will not leave."  
Laura struggled and twisted. A sensation of nails in her skin covered her body. Laura reached her hand toward The Eyes. The Eyes had turned cold. The calming warm love that lived within them had been replaced with a fury.  
"You are to feed us! There is no alternative! We are your master!" The Eyes growled.  
Laura's outstretched hand ran along the furious Eyes. "You're not. You're not keeping me here. I'm not living my life in dreams anymore. I want the real! I'm leaving!"  
Laura dug her fingers into the eyes and ripped at them, staining her fingertips in blood and tissue. The universe felt like it was quaking as The Eyes howled in pain and anger.

The Doctor felt as though Getz's fingers were swimming in his brain. The pain was immense.  
"Your dreams will make my master so happy, Doctor." Getz said, grinning. "Your mental defenses are impressive. The Time Lords have taught you some fascinating things, but ultimately they're worthless. You will be broken. Your mind will feed my master. It will be glorious, Doctor."  
The Doctor let out a pained scream. "Getz, you-you're an idiot."  
"Even on the edge on slavery, you can't keep quiet can you?"  
The Doctor twisted with agony and fell to his knees.

In that moment Laura's eyes shot open and she awoke with a start. She quickly looked around the room and saw The Doctor, being held down by her mother and the other members of her street, crying out and Getz fishing around in his brain. She then saw the mental link signal disrupter sitting on the table next to her.  
Getz let out a booming laugh. "My master will have your mind, Doctor. Even if it takes centuries, my master will have the dreams of a Time Lord."  
Laura, quietly, but quickly made her way behind Getz. "I'm sorry, Getz, no it won't." Laura said, pressing the button on the device.  
Getz pulled his hands off of The Doctor's head and turned around. "SLEEP!" Getz shouted, expecting Laura to fall back into dreaming. But she didn't. He yelled for Laura to sleep, impotently, several more times before he fell to the ground. "I can't hear my master in my head anymore! My master's gone! Master! Master! No! Come back master! Master..."  
Getz laid on the floor weeping.  
The others under the creature's control began to stir and let The Doctor go as they blinked and looked around in confusion. Laura ran to her mother and embraced her. "Mom! Are you alright?!"  
"Yeah...I think. What time is it?" Dianne said, wrapping her arms around Laura.

The Doctor leaned against the side of his TARDIS, holding the mental link signal disrupter in his hands, as Laura stared at her feet. " Getz is back on his planet where he belongs, apparently he was quite a popular fellow with the authorities." The Doctor cleared his throat. "Well, I must be going."  
"Where are you going?" Laura said, trying to sound as collected as she could with all she's seen in the last two nights.  
"Oh, all of space and time is ahead of me, so I might just pop off somewhere and have a cup of tea, perhaps take a nap." The Doctor said, with a wry smile.  
Laura chuckled. "Sounds nice. You travel through space and time in a box?"  
"Yes."  
"Anywhere? Anytime?"  
"Yes."  
"Are there always dream eating space monsters?"  
"Not always. Sometimes there's just tea." The Doctor put his finger under Laura's chin and gently lifted her head to look her in the eyes. "Laura, thank you so much for what you did tonight. You did splendidly. You were so brave. "  
"No. I'm not brave..."  
"You're one of the bravest people I've met."  
A smile found its way onto Laura's face. "Thank you, Doctor. I should let you go."  
"Come with me."  
"What?" Laura said, shocked.  
"I need someone to travel with. Come with me. It'll be fun! We could meet Rembrandt, Or go see the ultimate chess championship of 3057, that one's a classic! I could show you stars be born and planets die. Every place at anytime is yours. What do you say?"  
Laura took a quiet, deep breath and then exploded with excitement. "I'll go pack a bag!"  
"Good girl!"  
Laura began running back to her house, and then turned around. "You're sure you want me, right?"  
"Yes! Now go pack!"

Laura ran into her room and pulled out a suitcase and began throwing underwear and shirts in, when she saw the blue sundress sitting where she had left it the night before. She picked it up and looked at it for a moment and then started to peel off her clothes.

A few minutes later Laura ran to the TARDIS, a suitcase in hand and wearing her sundress. She pushed the door open. "Sorry it took so long, I had to write mom a note, oh, and change."  
The Doctor grinned. "You look fantastic. Where to?"  
"Uh, before we go I need to tell you something. I lied to you earlier."  
"Oh?"  
"Yeah. At Getz's house I told you I moved here because of my mom's work. That's not true. I moved here because my therapist recommended I get away and get a fresh start, you know have a change."  
"Oh, well, do you think traveling with me to any point in space and time is enough of a change?"  
Laura laughed. "Yeah. I guess it might be. "  
The Doctor turned to the console and with a fury of switch flipping, lever pulling and button smashing The TARDIS was off.

In Laura's house, a note sat on the kitchen counter reading:

_Dear mom,_  
_Heading out with a friend. I'll help you unpack tomorrow. _  
_Love,_  
_Laura._


	6. The Sounds in the Dark Part 1

The Doctor pecked away at the buttons of the TARDIS console while Laura looked around amazed.  
"It's so big! How is there so much in a box?"  
The Doctor loved to see them when they were amazed; the twinkle in their eyes. "It's Time Lord technology. Transdimensional engineering. Those Time Lords were stuffy, boring and decadent, but they were very clever."  
"So, you're one of these Time Lords?" Laura said, still looking up at the console room.  
"Yep."  
"So, are you decadent?" Laura ran her hands along the railings.  
The Doctor frowned. "No. I wouldn't think so. "  
"So this 'transdimensional engineering' let's it be bigger on the inside?"  
"That's right."  
"Huh..." Laura said, taking it all in.  
"You're taking this very well."  
"Well, after you read enough comic books, I guess you become accepting of a lot of strange possibilities." Laura turned to The Doctor. "What's it called? The ship. What's it called?"  
"The TARDIS." The Doctor said with a huge grin.  
"Well, Doctor, where are you and your The TARDIS taking us?" Laura said, joy showing all over her face.  
The TARDIS grinded and wheezed to a stop.  
"Let's take a look!" The Doctor whirled around toward to the viewscreen. "Hmmm...looks like we're still on Earth."  
"I like Earth." Laura leaned in over the Doctor's shoulder.  
"Good. And it's prehistoric Earth."  
"Prehistoric? Dinosaurs or cavemen?"  
"...Cavemen. We're at around 30,000 BC, I believe...Hmmm..."  
"What's the matter?"  
"The last time I ended up on Stone-age Earth it wasn't the greatest of trips."  
"Really?"  
"Yes. I nearly bludgeoned a bloke to death with a rock...Shall we have a look around?!" The Doctor twirled around and headed quickly toward the door.  
"Wait, what?..." Laura quickly chased after The Doctor. "What do you mean, Doctor?...Doctor?..."

The Doctor and Laura waded through a sea of high grass. A bright and vibrant blue sky shined overhead. Laura surveyed the landscape with excited glances. "It all looks so normal"  
"What?" The Doctor pushed his way through the grass with, what seemed like, focused purpose.  
"Well...It's so far in the past, but it just looks like...well...today...I mean the present...I mean my time period...Sorry, I was just thinking out loud..."  
"Well it's true, Laura. Not much has changed, it's a short hop from your time to now. Though if you look you'll find some extinct species of plants and animals."  
"Wow."  
"It is very 'wow' isn't it?" The Doctor said, with a smug smile.  
"Where are we?"  
"Africa! The cradle of humanity! Every human being, every king, peasant and prophet, every human that has touched dust on an alien planet and looked up at foreign constellations trace their origins back here. They grew from here. They've already started to spread out across the other continents. They have no idea they'll spread out among the stars. They have no idea how much they'll change the universe..."  
Laura stopped and stared at The Doctor. She was struck with sense that everything was impossible. It was surreal. She was in the stone age with a man with a box that travels through space and time and he's talking about humanity colonizing the stars.  
"Doctor, I'm dizzy."  
The Doctor turned around to face Laura. "Why? Are you sick? Did you eat something? Don't eat anything. You don't know where it's been!"  
"No...I just...I'm in Africa...I'm in prehistory. I'm apart of prehistory!"  
"Oh! You have time-travel sickness!"  
"Really? Does it happen a lot?"  
"I don't know, I just made it up."  
Laura let out a breath of exhaustion and sat down, the grass crunching under her.  
The Doctor crouched down to look Laura in the eyes. "Look, Laura, you're a strong girl. A little time travel isn't going to hurt you...the things we find once the actual time traveling is over on the other hand...You can handle those things too. You're courageous. I see it in your eyes. So, just take a few breaths and remember I'm right beside you." He reached his hand out to Laura. "And if you ever feel unsafe or not ready for what I might show you, all you have do is say the word and I'll take you home. Deal?"  
Laura took The Doctor's hand and let a small smile slip onto her face. "Deal." The Doctor gently pulled her to her feet. "What do we do now?"  
"Well, I've learned that if The TARDIS takes me somewhere that I hadn't planned on going that means there must be trouble...So, what do you say we find it?"  
Laura laughed. "Lead the way!"  
Laura and The Doctor marched forward through the tall grass in their pursuit of trouble.


End file.
